Take an occasionally controversial singer out of a short, self-imposed retirement, give her a Keane song to cover, add a bear, a hare and a beautifully crafted Christmas cartoon, mix with some activities focussing on listening, speaking and vocabulary development, and you have our Christmas lesson plan for this year.

This time last year John Lewis released a sentimental advert featuring a boy who can’t wait to give his parents the perfect Christmas present, and we based a lesson plan on it. This year’s version is in a similar vein. Featuring a love-struck snowman, the ad contrasts nicely with the more irreverent take on the traditional Christmas commercial from the makers of the infamous Scottish soft drink, Irn Bru, which we’ve also included in this activity.

I came across this and was spellbound by the beautiful music, the wonderful little boy and the unexpected ending. It also fit the bill perfectly for a jigsaw-style video activity I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. It’s taken a good hour-and-a-half with every class we’ve tried it out on but they’ve all said the time flew. And they were desperate to see the ending! Try it out and see what you think, but first, watch it yourself!